March 31, 2009

... I married my amazing husband in the presence of our closest family and friends. I am so happy to be married to my dearest Mark, who is the sweetest, most supportive, and loving husband I could ever ask for. Happy anniversary, mon amour! Je t'aime.
And with that, we are off to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary in Paris. I actually still have packing to do... but I'm basically floating on air, ready to celebrate our anniversary in one of our favorite cities in the world. I'm most excited about taking Mark to the Rodin, Picasso, and Monet museums and strolling around the city in search of delicious treats in which we will surely overindulge.

March 3, 2009

I'm a big fan of 101 Cookbooks, an excellent vegetarian/vegan cooking blog. Heidi's recipes are super inspiring -- and I also really like that she is conscious of quality and healthful ingredients. Actually, considering that I made her miso soba noodle soupthree times last week for lunch, I thought I should share my new favorite lunch.

I followed her guidelines loosely. She calls for a soup base using miso paste and hot water, but I built on her recipe by adding leftover green tea (inspired by green tea soba I had in Japan) and, since miso soup is usually made with bonito, or dried tuna flakes, I added a dash of fish sauce. To this I added al dente soba noodles, Savoy cabbage, cubes of firm tofu, shitake mushrooms, scallions, cilantro, and chili flakes for spice. So delicious and warming!

This recipe reminds me a bit of my mom, who makes delicious vegetarian dishes and is also quite skilled at using meat as a seasoning, rather than relying on it to play the starring role. In my opinion, it is not difficult to make a delicious meal out of a top quality steak or salmon, but it takes skill and creativity to create delicious, flavorful vegetarian dishes or dishes relying on just a bit of meat.

March 1, 2009

I can't get enough of Indian food. I love it - the complexity of flavors, the textures, the heat! My introduction to Indian food came in high school, when my good friend Sravanya invited a group of friends to lunch at her house. Her mom is a phenomenal cook who took great joy in introducing us to the flavors and dishes of South India: lemon rice, dals, sambar, homemade yogurt, idlis, and a number of astonishingly delicious and complex vegetable dishes. With such a personal introduction, is it any wonder that South Indian fare is one of my favorite cuisines? In college, I continued to try different kinds of Indian food, eventually discovering that I liked North Indian food almost as well.

Unfortunately, I can't say that I have had many successes with Indian food in my own kitchen. I can't get a handle on the subtle spicing. Almost every dish I make seems to taste exactly the same. The base can be chickpeas, lentils, kidney beans, chicken, shrimp, cauliflower, eggplant, or potato and, no matter what, everything tastes annoyingly similar. Yet I want to eat more Indian meals than I can really justify eating out, so I keep plugging along.

The recipe I want to post today is a spicy shrimp curry that I first made about a year ago. I came across this recipe in the New York Times and decided to try it because I recognized the name of the author, Suvir Saran, from a recipe for spiced chicken thighs we made and loved. His delicious chicken thigh recipe convinced me that this recipe would be good as well.

(Just a reminder that you can always click to enlarge. Isn't my hand model stunning?)

The best part of this dish is the spicy, creamy, fragrant and totally addictive sauce, which is a snap to make. Essentially, you saute aromatics (onion, garlic, ginger) with dried chilis and ground spices. To this, you add chopped tomatoes, curry powder, coconut milk, and eventually shrimp. Everything simmers until the shrimp are tender and slightly curled, like big pink apostrophe marks, and then you finish everything with a dusting of cilantro. Doesn't that sound easy and delicious? It takes about a half an hour to put together, which means it takes only slightly longer to make than a pot of basmati rice.

Goan style shrimp curry by Suvir Saran and Hemant Mathur

This is a gem of a recipe, I think, because the sauce is so versatile. Instead of shrimp (which is nice because it cooks so quickly), you could sub chicken or vegetables (the author recommends cauliflower, potatoes, and green beans). If you substitute vegetables, however, I would steam them before adding them to the sauce.

My notes:

I like to make my own curry powder but you can certainly use a storebought blend.

Start a big pot of basmati rice before you begin prepping the curry.

The amount of kosher salt called for was a little too much for me, though Mark thought it was fine. I am not changing the recipe, but use caution if you are sensitive to salt.

I added extra cayenne pepper at the end, because I like the pain of a spicy curry.

4. Stir in curry powder and cook for 1 minute. Add coconut milk, bring to a boil, and add shrimp. Bring to a simmer and cook until shrimp are opaque, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro. If desired, serve with rice.